My heart was pounding loudly in my chest. I couldn't believe it!
The signature on the drawing was clearly Jack's, but the date... May 2, 1912. That was after the ship sank. Jack died that night...didn't he?
I began trembling uncontrollably. Charlie came up behind me and held me up for support.
"Rose, are you okay?" he asked. "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing, I'm fine Charlie. I-I'm just...shocked. Completely and utterly shocked," I managed to stutter.
"What happened? What is it?"
"It's...it's a long story," I said.
"I have time," Charlie whispered, gazing deeply into my eyes.
I sighed loudly and pressed my lips together in thought. Charlie's pleading eyes begged and encouraged me to tell my story, the story I had kept hidden from everyone. I started from the beginning, or at least what I considered the beginning.
I told him about my marriage arrangement with Caledon Hockley and how I felt so trapped in that engagement. I told him how that despair led me to the stern of the ship and how I felt that the only way out was to take my life. I told him of the young man who stopped me from jumping.
I told him about Jack.
I went on and on about Jack. I told Charlie the smallest details about him, like the way his blonde hair flopped in the wind, and about his deep laugh lines that made his smile even more captivating, and his blue eyes that were the color of a clear sky.
I told him about the moments we spent together. All the while Charlie looked at me, deep into my eyes, marveled by everything I had kept hidden for so long.
I told Charlie about the night the ship sank. I told Charlie about Jack's death. He held my hand and his eyes were full of sympathy. I wiped away my tears and sighed again. I continued with my story, telling Charlie about how I was rescued. I also told him about how I changed my last name to Jack's when I was asked for my name as the Carpathia arrived to New York.
"Wow," was all Charlie could say.
I nodded in agreement. We both looked back at the drawing hung up in the gallery. The signature. The date.
"Rose," Charlie said, "Jack is alive."
YOU ARE READING
In Your Arms Tonight
FanfictionRose was a young woman who was aboard the Titanic on its fateful maiden voyage. On the ship, she met Jack, a poor boy who taught her the value of life and the meaning of happiness. Her world was shattered, however, when Jack died in the cold waters...
